MILAN – Durango, Colorado-based Desert Sun Coffee Roasters, as a member/owner of Cooperative Coffees, was awarded the Specialty Coffee Association’s 2020 Sustainability Award in the Business Model category.
The award acknowledges leaders in the specialty coffee industry who guide the way with green initiatives. Coop Coffees has been recognized for their unique business model which brings roasters from the United States and Canada to import in a way that promotes sustainability with coffee producers.
According to The Durango Herald, Desert Sun is an active member-roaster, joining Coop Coffees in 2007. Cooperative Coffees is a Certified B Corporation. Wanting to do business differently, the founding members created an innovative importing model, incorporating transparent and fair trading practices to foster long-term relationships with farmers as partners in trade.
Recent initiatives Desert Sun has participated in include Carbon Climate and Coffee, a pilot project implementing the Cool Farm Tool and the Carbon, Climate and Coffee Initiative.
Cooperative Coffees is an importer of Fair Trade and Organic coffee, committed to improving the livelihood of small-scale coffee farmers, providing services to their members, and creating connections that have regenerative and sustainable impact.
Founded in 1999, seven forward-thinking coffee roasters created an innovative coffee importing system that fostered long-term relationships with farmers as partners in trade, becoming the first roaster-owned, green coffee importing cooperative. Today, Cooperative Coffees has 23 members throughout North America and partners with 54 producer organizations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Above all, the cooperative is a community of roasters committed to contributing to the health and sustainable development of producer communities and strengthening connections across the entire supply chain.
